


Her Duty

by xblackstars



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Post DA: 2, Set during DA: Inquisiton, Warden's Calling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-03 19:25:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4112269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xblackstars/pseuds/xblackstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Multi-chaptered story set during Inquisition about Evie Cousland: Queen, Warden Commander and Hero Of Ferelden. When Evie starts to experience the Calling, she takes a moment from her duty as Queen to explore the truth behind the Warden’s death and why is she and other Warden’s experiencing it - only for a certain someone to join her quest for answers. What should have been explained/played during DA: I upon the Queen/Warden Commander’s duty of the Calling. Mature Rating (precaution) Alistair/F!Cousland pairing. Other characters may be included. *spoiler alert* **HIATUS**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Another Dragon Age fanfiction, I started writing this out as a roleplay between an Alistair and my Cousland, Evie: It never went any further and alas, my muse broke free and kept writing. For any mistakes, please do not hesitate to contact me. Without further ado, please enjoy.
> 
> For future reference: Evangeline "Evie" Cousland, Rogue - brunette long hair, somewhat petite.

It's midday when it happens, at first the Warden Commander doesn't think that it's something else - naturally, she presumes that people were merrily singing old Warden Folk, never did she comprehend that it was all but that. The brunette Warden found herself humming along by the end of the worst winter they've had in Ferelden, her amour - the very same armour she wore upon slaying the Archdemon; just keeps the frostbite out. It's only when the singing is heard all the time, no matter if she's sleeping or fighting her way through the last of the Darkspawn that has been filtering through Ferelden since the end of the Blight; that she begins to realise this isn't normal. She's been away from her beloved for several months now, she can barely fathom the time length, it feels like hours but she does her duty rather than the Queenly one she volunteered herself to do. 

The Calling, the writing states in the old Warden textbooks - ones taken directly from Weisshaupt, even her fellow Warden's share the concerned thoughts when they deliver them to her but she needs to know. She's too young, Alistair had told her once that Duncan had been experiencing it after her joining ritual, after the traitor had turned his back on King Calihan. The female Cousland barely leaves the tent since they returned the books to her, just days prior to restless muse that engulfs her; she ignores the concern that's etched on her Warden’s faces - she ignores the questions they asks, she doesn't want to worry them or rather, him. Evie just allows herself the comfort of her dreams during the night or even when her eyes are wide open; her mind wide awake as the questions invade her subconscious thoughts.

_What was she doing?_

There was no denying that she had to stop this, with the lack of evidence and information regarding the curse, the taint that was slowly killing her off - she needed to find out more. Evie needed to witness a possibility or rather a miracle, to find a cure - to find a way to remove the taint from her bloodstream. How funny.. the one thing that helped her save the world would be the one thing to be her death just a mere decade after becoming the Hero of Ferelden and Queen. 

“Makers Breath…” Evie mumbled to herself as she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, glancing around her camp and her men. Her body was tense, much to her surprise, it was worse than it ever had been since she joined the Warden’s but there was no time to stop; the Calling had gotten louder in her mind, in her ears - Evangeline was and still is a fighter, she refuses to let something of the unknown pass her without even considering all options. A sigh of defeat escapes her lips, her chestnut hair high in it’s usual ponytail but too tight, enough to cause her head to throb and her eyes to grow weary. 

It had been a long day of research with no answers and yet, she couldn’t help but fear the worst. The Inquisition, or rather the Herald had written directly but without much knowledge, Evie couldn’t help but feel disappointed when the return of her letter (to the Inquisitor) saw just a few minimal gifts and her support to the cause. Perhaps the Maker wanted to test her, put her through her limits to prove she had adapted and could make it through the worst but she couldn’t help but consider this a mammoth of a task - wasn’t fighting the Archdemon enough? Perhaps it was just that, she defied the destiny of a Warden by using dark, ritual magic. Evie couldn’t bare the thought, let alone fathom a life without her beloved - even as clichè and cheesy as he was and would be. 

Alistair was her life, no matter what. They would share their days together till old and grey, or so she had hoped.

“Warden Commander,” A soldier snapped the Rogue from her thoughts, her dark ochre gaze meeting a helmet before responding, “Yes?” Curiosity had been a side of Evie that could have been her demise. She couldn’t help but want to understand, to know more of the world they lived in - how things such as Demons, Archdemon and more could live. The fellow soldier passed the Warden slash Queen a letter, it was only when she glanced down that she understood. This was a dead end, perhaps after all it was time to head back. "I'll be in my tent, we'll head out to the last location in the morn' - we'll ride at sunrise." Departing from the commanding tent, she couldn't help but feel as if something was about to happen, something she wasn't expecting. Ignoring the odd sensation and the music or rather the Calling in her mind, Evie strips her armour before lying down on her bedroll.

_Her face contorted as she tried to hold in the fear, the fear of losing the one she had come to love and everything her life currently held for her. It was her end, the music to her ears - a song she'd never heard but knew the instant she heard it. Her time was coming to an end and yet Evie refused to acknowledge the worried stares and looks from her advisors and lover. It had gotten to the point she could ignore it, painfully that is, but it was beginning to disturb her sleep and that was something she couldn’t help but acknowledge. Her complexion became pale and the bruise like shapes underneath her eyes were just one sign of the many she’d been avoiding, it wasn’t until she planned her journey that she had no choice but to tell her King._

_As painful as it was, he understood or so she hoped and believed. Not that she mentioned it was herself who was hearing it. Both of the Warden’s had been told that they live until they were at least thirty but Evie was no where near the age, she was barely mid-twenties, it was much too soon. She still wanted a future with her King, to help Thedas heal._

_But it wasn’t her luck it seemed. Nor in her fate._

_The Queen handed her King, her beloved, her heart and soul her necklace, the one she was given by the ghost of her father whilst in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Something she held dear, a reminder that she would return - even if it meant her dead body would be sent back. She promised him and Evie Cousland, never broke a promise._

A muffled scream escaped her lips as Evie jolted from her sleep with a start. A familiar sensation swept over her, her body buzzing from being near a Warden, except she knew this sensation well. More so than most, but it couldn't be possible - Alistair wasn't here, he couldn't be; he was ruling, doing his kingly duties. Light escaped through the small gap of her tent, enough to notify the brunette that dawn was rising. 

With a sigh escaping her lips, Evie got up and dressed herself except this time she removed the band that held her hair in securely. Time was the essence and they were due to leave but what made her unsettled was the distinctive feeling something was wrong. Stepping out of her tent, Evie almost walked straight into her fellow Warden, stumbling before the rogue caught herself. "Sorry m'lady, someone has been spotted nearby. He looks of importance, do you wish for him to be brought in?" Out of sudden impulse, something the Rogue of Highever had never done but she shook her head and made way through the sweltering heat to the edge of the camp before noticing a familiar body in the near distance, just outside their makeshift perimeter. 

It was only then that she recognised the mage; one who she had considered long dead and often dreamt of his demise: Anders.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on, Her Duty:
> 
> With a sigh escaping her lips, Evie got up and dressed herself except this time she removed the band that held her hair in securely. Time was the essence and they were due to leave but what made her unsettled was the distinctive feeling something was wrong. Stepping out of her tent, Evie almost walked straight into her fellow Warden, stumbling before the rogue caught herself. "Sorry m'lady, someone has been spotted nearby. He looks of importance, do you wish for him to be brought in?" Out of sudden impulse, something the Rogue of Highever had never done but she shook her head and made way through the sweltering heat to the edge of the camp before noticing a familiar body in the near distance, just outside their makeshift perimeter.
> 
> It was only then that she recognised the mage; one who she had considered long dead and often dreamt of his demise: Anders.

Most importantly, why was he here? _Of all people?_ Evie hadn't seen him for over a decade and yet he shows, out of the blue - and towards a Warden's settlement. Did she teach him nothing? She shakes her head - ignoring the discomfort in the movement as she does so, a distant reminder that time is ticking, time she hasn’t got. Her fellow Warden-Commander, Stroud acknowledges her expression - one she can’t help but presume looks bad, “Allow me.” He nodded towards the Apostate, Evie can’t help but want to intervene and she does just that - grasping the familiar, cool metal of the Warden armour with a bare hand, before shaking her head once more: “No, he was my duty - if anything I failed him.” She replies, her voice tinged with emotion - wavering as if she’s about to cry, but she won’t - not for him.

Closing her eyes for just a few moments before gathering her confidence, she strides out of the Warden settlement without any of her men beside or following her. Lips pursed, she comes to a halt - just a mere meter or so away from the ex-Warden. “Anders..” Evie calls aloud, hoping he’d recognise her as she’s hardly changed from a decade ago, he should also acknowledge the fact she’s _Queen_ but in these lands and the armour she adorns - _she’s anything but Queen_ at this moment. “Evie.” He retorts, seeming out of breath - or rather, stamina/lyrium. She can’t help but feel guilty, she gave up on his search shortly after he left Vigil’s Keep: there was no letter, no word of why he left, he did just and she allowed him that, hoping for the best. Only to find out, after half a decade he was responsible for the uprising in Kirkwall - a place her beloved Alistair had to intervene at one point due to her guilt and responsibility for the mage.

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear but-“ His words were cut short as the Warden Commander raised her palm up, “Stop.. Stop right there Anders.” The brunette began, “I searched high and low after you left Amaranthine - no letter, nothing. So, I allowed you to leave without searching for you only to find out you,” She paused, her temper rising as was the calling in her ears; “You, _of all people_ , were responsible for Kirkwall’s destruction and demise? You are… _Makers breath_ , so lucky I am not Queen at this right moment or I would be happy to behead you.” It’s when she finishes her rant, that Evie realises her hand is shaking in the air and her whole body freezes: she had no control over her own body now - was she too late? 

“Evie.. I know, now is not the time but you need to get answers because I’ve noticed a large amount of Warden’s disappearing, I fear it’s the Calling.” Stunned, the Warden Commander couldn’t help but take a step back, her hand going straight to her forehead - so it wasn’t just _her_. There were others, that’s why they had received no response from Orlais or other parts of the Ferelden Warden’s. She feared the worse, had her beloved started showing symptoms without her knowledge? 

“What are we waiting for? I need to get word out.” Evie span, her hair flicking into her face causing her vision to become temporarily distorted before she stalked back to the Camp with confidence - she span once more, noticing that Anders was following - her pointer finger stuck out and pressed against his chest, hard. “We haven’t finished about you either!” Huffing, she moved past Stroud who nodded to Evie, “Find Hawke, she’s your best bet. I’ll continue our original plan to Orlais.” 

For the first time in a long time, she feared the worse and put all her hope in the Maker that Alistair was okay and not going through a personal hell like Evie had been in the past few months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait in the update, I know it hasn’t been that long but still long enough when you’re eager to continue. Please forgive any mistakes, again - hasn’t been beta-read. I will apologise as a majority of this has been written since I posted chapter one! *hides*


End file.
